1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus having a rotary paddle wheel with vanes for receiving the product from a source and transporting the product through a weighing bucket to the funnel of a bagger.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
This invention is in the field of computerized scales having a series of weighing buckets each associated with an underlying load cell for producing an electrical signal representative of the weight of the product in the bucket. The weight of the product in each bucket is less than the total weight of the product to be packaged.
With all the buckets filled, a computer would respond to the weight signals of the load cells, select the right combination of buckets having the desired minimum weights and the buckets involved are then emptied.
Weighing buckets for conventional commercially available computer scales include doors which move to open positions to dump the product from the buckets after the product has been weighed. Because of the door and the need to open the weighing bucket, the rigidity of the bucket is reduced and its natural frequency is decreased. While high frequency disturbances in the bucket can be electronically filtered from the load cell signal in a relatively easy manner, low frequency disturbances resulting from a door-type bucket having a relatively low natural frequency are more difficult to eliminate and can result in inaccurate readings. In addition, the door of such a weighing bucket must close before the bucket can be re-filled and thus the time required for closing the door increases the time required for the overall weighing cycle.
One approach to emptying the weighing bucket and eliminating the aforementioned undesirable results is disclosed in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,012 which shows using air to empty the weighing bucket.